Building Credibility Through Shared Experience: The Unconventional Leadership Test
- Robin Elledge
- Sep 5
- 1 min read
A restaurant chain once made a surprising rule:
Every new manager had to work a full shift as a dishwasher.
Not shadow. Not observe. Actually do the job.
Why?
Because you can’t lead what you don’t understand.
Scraping plates and loading racks, managers felt the pace, the pressure, the teamwork required to keep a kitchen moving.
It wasn’t about skills.
It was about empathy.
The best leaders aren’t just qualified.
They’re grounded.
They respect the work because they’ve touched it.
That rule shifted hiring from “who looks good on paper” to “who will earn trust on the floor.”
Because leadership isn’t about the title.
It’s about credibility.
And credibility comes from shared experience.
The lesson:
Hire leaders who aren’t afraid to do the work.
Because the ones who will wash dishes beside their team…
will also stand with them when the pressure’s on.
What’s one unconventional way you test for leadership in hiring?
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